According to the latest Mobile Gender Gap Report released by GSMA, India’s progress on digital inclusion stalled in 2022 with no change in mobile internet use for either men or women. This is likely a result of supply chain disruptions since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, a slowing economy and increased inflation, among other factors, which have made accessing the internet less affordable and accessible for people in India in general, but especially for women.
As per the report, the gender gap in mobile internet use in South Asia, and across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) overall, is largely driven by India. Between 2018 and 2020, the gender gap had been narrowing due to changing market dynamics, more affordable handsets and a notable increase in women’s adoption during the onset of COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns. However, in 2021, this trend reversed when men’s adoption of mobile internet increased while women’s remained unchanged.
The report shows that 81 per cent of men and 72 per cent of women in India owned a mobile phone as of 2022, translating to a gender gap of 11 per cent. Meanwhile, the gender gap in mobile internet stood remained relatively unchanged since it widened last year, standing at 40 per cent. While 52 per cent of Indian men use mobile internet, women are way behind, with only 31 per cent of them accessing mobile internet.
Overall, 900 million women across LMICs are still not connected to mobile broadband, of which two-thirds live in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. If this large gap remains unchanged, current forecasts suggest that only 360 million more women are expected to start using mobile broadband by the end of the decade, the report said. This will be less than half of the 800 million target.
Commenting on the report, Mats Granryd, director general, GSMA, said, “Mobile phones are the primary, and often only, source of internet access in LMICs, particularly in rural communities, so it is alarming to see women’s digital inclusion slow for the second year in a row. Greater collaboration across all stakeholders in the digital community, from governments to operators, NGOs to internet companies, is needed to enable more women to access and use mobile internet and ultimately ensure women are not being left behind in an increasingly digital world.”
